[PREV - MAPPING_THE_LOWLANDS]    [TOP]

RETCON

                                               December 25, 2005

Thesis: serial publication, far
from being an unusual exception            "Serial" publication:
is almost the norm throughout the          the work appears
history of literature.                     before the public
                                           in installments,
  Works that were originally               with a substantial
  serialized, high and low:                wait between.

  "Don Quixote"                            Often, the author
                  QUIXAND                  has not finished the   Or authors.
                                           work before it was
  "War and Peace"                          serialized, which
                  WAR_AND_PEACE            means they have an
                                           opportunity to
   "Huckleberry Finn"                      tailor it's
                                           direction
                                           interactively.
                  HAWKING_FINN
   "Foundation"                                Even if the work was
   Trilogy                                     completed before publication,
                                               the perception of the
                DEAD_HAND                      work is changed by
                                               the enforced wait
   "Red Harvest"                               between installments.
   "The Dain Curse"
                                               It has time to settle
                                               into the mind of the
                                               audience, the audience
Thus, pretty obviously, the *nature*           may discuss the story
of the serial work is of primary               among themselves as
importance to understanding literature.        it progresses.

If we've somehow developed the idea               Eliminating that pause
that the serial is a low art form,                between the pieces
that is a very peculiar retcon that               radically transforms
hampers our ability to understand                 the experience.
literature both high and low.
                                                     DEATH_OF_THE_ALBUM
It might be adviseable to look to the
fans and practioners of the low arts
then, to find the intellectual tools    LOW_CRITICISM
to deal with the serial form.

--------
[NEXT - RULE_OF_REVERSALS]